Calendar for July 3rd, 2013

Dog Days Begin

The phrase "Dog Days" conjures up the hottest, most sultry days of summer. The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional timing of the Dog Days: the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. The rising of Sirius does not actually affect the weather (some of our hottest and most humid days occur after August 11), but for the ancient Egyptians, Sirius appeared just before the season of the Nile's flooding, so they used the star as a "watchdog" for that event. Since its rising also coincided with a time of extreme heat, the connection with hot, sultry weather was made for all time: "Dog Days bright and clear / indicate a happy year. / But when accompanied by rain, / for better times our hopes are vain."

1600s

1608: Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain

1730s

Born 1731: Samuel Huntington (signer of the Declaration of Independence)

Born 1738: John Singleton Copley (painter)

1810s

1819: The first savings bank in America (Bank of Savings) opened in N.Y.C.

1870s

Born 1870: Richard Bedford Bennett (11th Prime Minister of Canada)

Born 1878: George M. Cohan (composer)

1880s

Born 1883: Franz Kafka (novelist)

1890s

1890: Idaho became the 43rd state to enter the Union

1920s

1922: Fruit Garden and Home magazine was published. The publication changed its name two years later to Better Homes and Gardens

Born 1927: Ken Russell (film director)

1930s

Born 1930: Pete Fountain (jazz musician)

Born 1935: Harrison Schmitt (geologist, astronaut, politician)

Born 1937: Tom Stoppard (writer)

1940s

Born 1947: Betty Buckley (actress)

1950s

Born 1953: Frank Daryl Tanana (baseball player)

1960s

Born 1962: Tom Cruise (actor)

Born 1962: Thomas Gibson (actor)

Born 1964: Yeardley Smith (actress)

1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited segregation in public places

Born 1969: Kevin Hearn (musician)

1970s

Died 1971: Jim Morrison (musician)

1980s

Died 1986: Rudy Vallee (musician & actor)

1988: The USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian passenger plane over the Persian Gulf, believing it to be a hostile fighter. All 290 civilians aboard were killed

Died 1989: Jim Backus (actor)

2000s

2008: Singer Kylie Minogue received an Officer of the Order of the British Empire from Prince Charles during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace